The Collinsport Chronicles XXXVII: Hand of flames
by Maryland Rose
Summary: Adam, Quentin, and Sebastian reach Collinsport after escaping the gypsies witht he hand of Count Petofi, which played a ghastly joke on them. There they find themselves pawns in the struggle between the phoenix Hallie Collins, and her gypsy servant, Zoya.
1. Chapter 1

Zimmerman lives now in Nunez' body. Megan and Angelique left town, and Angelique made sure that they cannot be contacted for a while, and then only for an emergency, as Megan wants to get off the grid, fearful of Julia's wrath as she does not know that Zimmerman survived. Quentin found Adam, and they used the Hand of Count Petofi to disguise themselves. Unfortunately they ended up looking liken the Three Stooges. Tammy finally married Joe, and Megan transferred ownership of the agency to them.

* * *

HAND OF FLAMES

Chapter 1

"You look a lot better." Frances said.

"I feel a lot better. I am a lot better." Richard grinned widely "Actually, I should not be here at all."

"We know that." Frances grinned back. "But it will not do to release a patient so soon after an apparent recovery. There is still paperwork that needs to be filled... And why deprive us of the pleasure of your company?

"You find me pleasant then?"

"Pleasant and attractive."

* * *

Julia smiled beatifically. She was due at any time, but she was no longer impatient nor worried. It would turn out all right, she knew. Didn't she have Richard back? Why couldn't this be easy too?

Kenneth was happy to see her this way. She had been under a lot of strain, with that business of Richard. Well, that was solved.

But still, there were concerns, when a woman her age got pregnant. They knew that their daughter was healthy, and that was a relief.

The one worry left is what it would mean to become parents at their age...

"Have you thought of any names?" Julia asked.

"Names?"

"For the baby."

"What about Julia Jr.?"

"Boring."

"What do you want?"

"I want to name her for my parents. My mother's name was Gretchen. My father's, Albrecht... Gretchen Alberta..."

"Hmmm... Gretchen Alberta Anderson... It has a certain ring to it."

* * *

"So we cannot contact either Megan nor Angelique. " Barnabas commented..

"I can contact Angelique if we need to." George reminded him.

"She told me that as a condition she did not want any contact with us for at least three months. She figures out that by then Megan will have forgotten about Richard, or at least put it in perspective. "

"Well, it does not matter... You know, there is more to life than Collinsport...

George understood. "You want to go too?"

"I would like to see more of the world... but..."

"But it also scares you. You are quite comfortable here. You don't have to lie. They know what you are, and accept it, even grudgingly, at times. While somewhere else...

"I know that I will leave, sooner or later. But not now... Not yet."

"If you want to go, you have to start making plans. It will be harder outside... You'd be cut off from your support system... But you can build a new one, and with less trouble than you did... Remember when you went to Parallel Time, that first time? You could manage all right."

"And you'd come with me?"

George took a deep breath. It had to come out.

"I know on what conditions we'd go together. I could tell you about losing my position here, about how much I love to be the sheriff. But you deserve the truth."

"And what is the truth?"

"That while I am tempted, I have a good reason not to. I asked Megan about it. She told me point blank that if I let you transform me, I risked being left alone for a very long time."

"I would not leave you."

"Barnabas how long was that Laura lay a trap for you, to sacrifice in the fire?"

"What does it have to do..."

"And how long before that I was thinking that I had to shoot you because your hunger got out of control thanks to Yolanda Overton? And before that, Quentin tried to kill you, didn't he? And before that I had to rescue you from Trask and the others.? And then how many times you were almost killed when you faced Laura? And then you risked getting killed by Zeb, didn't you? And before that, Sabrina sent you to Parallel Time... And before that, Roger tried to stake you. And before that, Tom Jennings came to your house and took hostages. And before that there was the riot incited by Sister Kira. And before that, you faced the firing squad of Old Munsungan... Do you see where I am going?"

"That I have risked getting killed too often?"

"I have a dangerous job. I have been shot at more than once. But still I have not had as many scrapes in my entire career as you have had in this time... Barnabas, you attract trouble. You have a target pinned to your back and one to your chest... I do not know why it is, but at this moment I do not think that you will make it to the next millennium... That if things keep going as they are, you will never visit Willie's nor Julia's grave. They will probably visit yours. And if I let you transform me, you'll get killed for some reason or another, and I'll be left all alone... I do not want that."

"It may not happen."

"Barnabas, be realistic. It has happened before, it can happen again. Unless you convince me that you have stopped asking for trouble, and that no phantoms of the past are gunning for you, I have to think that I will not have you for long."

Barnabas this time said nothing. He did not like it, but George was right Trouble seemed to have a way of finding him.

"All I can say is that if some time passes and I can stay out of trouble, you'll reconsider?"

"If that happens, if I can be reasonably certain that you are not in a hit list, I will certainly will."

* * *

The wheel rolled downhill, leaving Adam staring at it with a stunned expression.

Quentin's reaction was quick. He kicked Adam in the shin, then for good measure, turned around and poked Sebastian in the eyes.

"Ow! Ow! Why did you do that?" I didn't do nothing."

"I didn't do anything, you nitwit." Quentin corrected Sebastian, as he slapped him again.

This could not go on like this for long, Sebastian thought. He was getting tired of being hit. He was getting tired of all the mishaps that happened to them, in their duct taped car,.

The hand of Petofi had as much of a perverted sense of humor as the original owner. Not only they looked like the Stooges, behaved like the Stooges, but their adventures seemed to follow the rule of funny. They never ran out of money, because it was funnier if they could keep going on the road. Their car could fall apart, and could be put together with duct tape, because that was funny. One more accident, and one more... They could try the most outlandish things and as long as they were funny, they worked...

Like when the car had gotten stuck in a ditch, and they could not make it move. They had tied a rocket to the roof, and while the results had been spectacular and painful, they had gotten the car out. A bit more of duct tape, and it was ready to go...

For a few blocks at least...

Quentin figured out the same thing. Why had he gotten himself involved with Petofi in the first place? And why couldn't Adam have left well enough alone?

They had to get to Collinsport. The sooner the better.

Irritated, he slapped Adam again. "Go pick up that wheel, you dummy!"

* * *

Tammy had trouble believing yet that she was married, That she would go home with Joe every day. That her home had suddenly become "our home"... that she was going to have children and raise them...

That she was going to raise mixed race children...

Never mind that she had at least one white ancestor, Barnabas. Probably more than one. And as Barnabas had said, he was not sure about Joe's ancestry either..

But the fact was the she had been raised as black and Joe had been raised as white, no matter what story their genetic material told.. And there was a gulf between the two. A gulf that only now was beginning to be bridged...

And she was one of the brave pioneers who bridged it.

"Lots of luck!" she told herself.

She recognized Jake's voice in that sardonic comment. He could not get Jake out of her head, even if he had disappeared. Barnabas had only said that he was given a choice of leaving or going to jail for his part in setting Violet Upton free, and that he had chosen to leave.

She felt a twinge of guilt when he thought of him... Another unemployed black man sleeping under bridges and eating in soup kitchens... Although Barnabas had told her that it was not the case, that he had a different job...

And to tell the truth, when she recalled Violet's knife at her throat, her sympathy for Jake disappeared..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Frank" Buffy said "I think that it is time."

Frank protested..."But you had two more weeks."

"Frank this is it. Take me to the hospital now."

Frank went to get the car, not very sure that it was himself doing. Buffy was going to have a baby. He was going to be a daddy.. and he was ready yet...

* * *

Julia and Richard were talking. Or rather, she was talking and he was listening. Julia had gone through a lot of emotional turmoil on the last few weeks and she was now finally letting go of it.

It was a strange position for Richard to be in. He had had many talks with Julia in the past, but then she had sat on his knee, looked up at him and asked for his approval. He was the parent and she was the child.

Now that was gone. They met as adults, both of them, and Richard wasn't too sure that he liked it. As he could judge Julia, so could he be judged. With the death of his old body and his new appearance, the last inhibitions had been removed.

"How are you and Kenneth getting along?"

"Better. Poor Kenneth. I was beastly to him in these past weeks. I was so worried about you that I did not stop to think that he might need me. Or that he existed at all. I was beastly to everybody, specially poor Barnabas. I don't know how they put up with me."

"Well," Richard said "I can't say that I disagree with that. Julia, I am touched that you think so highly of me, but you can't center your life around me."

"I know that now."

"Do you? Or you say that because you have not lost me and I am here, talking with you, even in this changed form?"

"I..."

"Julia, you are going to have a baby. You have a husband. They should be more important than me. Even Barnabas, for all his failings, has been a lot closer to you than I have. If they had killed me, it would have been wrong of you to reject them on account of me."

"I would not have."

"You would. And that would have been wrong."

"Richard." he expression changed as she grabbed her abdomen "another contraction. And this is not so far apart..."

'Julia..."

"I have to go to the hospital now."

* * *

People did stare at them. No chance of coming into Collisnport unnoticed. The faces that Petofi's hand had given them made it impossible. They were tracked by laughing children, and staring half-amused, half-afraid adults. Some were bold enough to ask for autographs.

Quentin wrote several of them. It made him cranky, and is crankiness resulted in more abuse for Adam and Sebastian. And both Adam and Sebastian reacted to the spectators' hilarity.

What was so funny about the Three Stooges, Sebastian wondered, shaking his hurting head. Was physical abuse so funny after all? How would those people like being treated like that?

"What do we do now?" Adam asked the session was over.

"We try to get to Angelique. And if she's not around, Barnabas."

"No, not Barnabas." Adam protested.

Quentin poked him in the eyes.

"Hey Moe...Ow, Ow, Ow!" Adam wailed.

"We got to see him, period."

* * *

"Peter looks better." Zeb said to Iris. "You have been taking good care of him."

"I know that you are angry with us." Jessica interposed "but we were doing what we though best. We were deceived."

"I understand that she deceived many people." Iris agreed. "Even the therapist, Audrey Morton, she was deceived, and she said that Yolanda was the best thing for him."

"Neither Barnabas nor Brant tried to fight us." Zeb said, a bit self-defensively "Barnabas himself trusted her."

Iris did not feel like arguing the point. She knew the reasons why Zeb had taken Peter in, and it had not been just to do her a favor. But it had been a help. And they had done the best for Peter, as far as it was possible for them to do.

She had already talked with Vicky, who had taken care of Phillip and discussed her plans for her school, and her pet project of establishing a food bank in Collinsport. Now she was mending fences with the Kings, now that Zeb had been properly chastened after his adventure with Laura.

"Too bad about Violet." Jessica said.

"Yet. It was bad. But I can't feel sorry about her, yet. I know that I should, but I can't"

Zeb nodded. He knew the feeling. No amount of persuasion could make him like Barnabas or Brant.

But still, he had to admit that they had been fair with him.

"I am glad that you are not mad at me anymore." Zeb confessed "after the flak I get from the Torrances... somehow they act as if it was all my fault."

* * *

"The snow will not melt for a while." Patterson said to Derek "and that means that we will not be able to go diving yet."

"Not until spring." Derek pointed out. "I have been contacting divers and discussing prices."

Patterson snorted. "How much did they want?'

"They want a percentage.. They thought that it would be more fun to be paid in gold pieces than in U.S. dollars. Or rather they fancy Imperial Crown Jewels from the Tsars of all the Russias."

"Yes. I should say." Patterson wondered if he had been too much of a romantic, throwing money after Russian jewels when there were plenty of safe investments around. But then, it was Brant's money, not his. And he had spent too many years being cautious. What had being cautious gotten him? Throw out in the cold by fickle voters after years of devoted service.

And George Brant had his job. That... that faggot. He should expose him for what he was. Let the voters kick him out, just as they had kicked him out. Let them know what they had elected after getting rid of him.

But no, it would be too easy. Brant was young. He could start all over. He could freelance, and get paid better and with less aggravation. No, let him get old in the job, let him give off himself, and only then, have him thrown out.

"Just you wait, George Brant, just you wait."

* * *

"Aunt Iris! Aunt Iris! They are here!" Peter ran, scared to Iris.

Iris went to Peter. "Who is there?"

"The.. the three of them... Curly, Larry, Moe."

"You.. you mean the Three Stooges?"

"Yes they are here! Don't let them take me! Don't let me!"

"I will not let them.." The abuse that Peter had suffered had taken the fun out of the Three Stooges, and he only saw them as frightening figures.

She went to the door, to check. The Stooges could not be here, could then?"

Outside she saw Alma, out of breath.

"I could hardly believe it. I mean, Elsa tells me that they are here, but I thought she was making a joke. But no, they re here."

"Who are here?"

"The Three Stooges."

* * *

Harry Redwolf looked abashed at Old Munsungan. They had fought each other with a passion. Many times they had forgotten that for all their differences and their struggles, they both wanted the same thing, the best for their people. They were no enemies. Their enemies were called poverty, second class status, discrimination, alcoholism, bitter memories... Maybe if they fought together instead of against each other, the would achieve better results.

"I have seen things coming. Things that in their struggle can well destroy us." Munsungan said.

Redwolf gulped. "Is it the fire again?" he remembered what Laura had done with him well enough.

"Not Laura. But something like her. I see fire coming close to us."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kenneth and Frank paced the hallway. They gave each other nervous glances of recognition, then resumed their pacing. Why were they not allowed inside the delivery rooms? They wanted to be there, helping Julia and Buffy as they had learned in the childbirth classes. But no, rules and regulations being what they were, they were locked out.

It grated Kenneth because he was a doctor himself. Surely they did not expect him to do anything foolish! Yet the same nurses and orderlies who treated him with respect when he was on the job, now treated him like a nuisance.

He realized, guiltily, that he had other people treated the same way. Had even praised the same nurses and orderlies for their no-nonsense behavior with interfering friends and relatives. So why should he complain when it was his turn?

Except that it stung him.

Frank was cranky, too. But not so much at the staff as at himself. He was not ready yet. How could he be a father? He would not know where to start.

After an eternity the nurse showed up. "Both mothers are fine. You got a baby boy, Mr. Torrance. And you a baby girl, Dr. Anderson."

* * *

"Gretchen Alberta Anderson" Kenneth said, looking at this daughter. He was a father, after all. He had thought that it was not for him, marrying and having children. He had let time pass him by saying that there was time later for all that. Then there seemed to be no more time...

And now Julia and he had become parents, against all expectations. Now he was looking at this little bundle that was a little girl, that was his daughter...

* * *

Frank Torrance, Jr. How did that sound? Frank Jr.?

He realized that the had not seriously thought about a name for the baby.

Frank Jr. was all right, but he wanted a bit more than that, a bit more of flair.

"Have you seen him?" Buffy asked him.

He nodded "Little itsy-bitsy thing." he said, tenderly. "I did not realize that babies were so.. so small. And so wrinkled."

"He will fill up very soon. Needs lots of breastfeeding... I can't believe that I just had him.

Frank agreed "I can't believe it either. It feels so... so funny. He looks such... such a tiny thing. I am afraid of taking him in my arms. He looks so fragile.

Buffy extended the baby to him. "Go ahead, take him."

"No, I am afraid."

"Take him. You'll have to do it, sooner or later."

"Later, when he looks more... more grown up."

Buffy did not insist. She cradled the baby, whispering to it.

"So this is my son." Frank said, with wonderment.

"Yes. This is it."

"My son. I have a son." he grinned idiotically "I did it. I have a son."

"We have a son." Buffy corrected him.

"Yes, we do."

"Have you thought of a name?"

Frank shook his head. "Frank Jr. It is the best I can come up with."

"Francis"? Like you?""

"It is not Francis, it is Franklin. I was named after F.D.R."

"Well, Franklin Jr. is not such a bad name."

"Yes. But I'd like something with more flair."

"Hmmm. I know what you mean... Let me think. How does Edwin sound?"

"Maybe.. no, it does not sound right."

"Want to name him for a President?'"

"Trouble with Democratic Presidents, they have such ... ordinary names. Harry, John, Jimmy..."

"There was Woodrow Wilson."

"It would get shortened to Woody, like Allen."

"What about Lyndon?"

"Lyndon?"

"Sure, Lyndon Torrance."

* * *

Barnabas stared. What was he seeing? He rubbed his eyes. He was hallucinating... It looked as if the Three Stooges were in his living room...

He rubbed his eyes again, but they would not go away.

"Barnabas!" Quentin said.

Barnabas staggered out of the room. He had to talk to Julia. He had to admit himself as a patient to Wyncliffe...

"Barnabas, it is me, Quentin!"

Barnabas dialed the phone, hoping to get Julia. Tell Julia that he was seeing the Three Stooges in his living room.

Quentin took the phone away from him "Barnabas, you re not seeing things. I am Quentin, and with me are Adam and Sebastian. We are under a spell that makes us look like this."

"A spell?"

At that moment Adam tripped over a chair. He got up and picked it up, only to slip again and drop in on Sebastian's foot.

A few moments later the chair was demolished. Quentin rushed to them, and slapped them both at once.

"Not only look like them, but act like them" thought Barnabas shuddering. Would he have a house standing by the time the spell vanished?

"We came to seek Angelique's help, but we cannot find her."

"Angelique left town with Megan. Tammy and Joe run the agency now."

"They left town?" Sebastian interjected angrily. "you mean that we came here for nothing? You said you would get it fixed! You said!"

Quentin poked Sebastian in the eyes, making him calm down. Adam was making Curly noises all the while.

"How did this spell came about?" Barnabas asked trying to figure out how long it would take the trio to completely demolish the Old House.

"I better tell you the whole story."

Which it did, being interrupted every now and then by Adam smashing something or Sebastian tripping over rugs.

Barnabas was sick when it was finished.

"You mean that you still have Petofi's hand with you?"

"Yes. We planned to use it."

"You used it all right. And all this time the Romano tribe is hunting for you. Don't you know better?"

"We need the hand to defend ourselves."

Barnabas felt sicker and sicker. Julia was to have her baby any time now. And too many things were happening... Gypsy curses and revenge were the last thing they needed...

"You brought us a whole load of problems on our heads." he said accusingly.

"So you don't want to help us now? You do not want me around, is that it? Well, you wanted me enough when you tried to get rid of your curse. You owe me. So help us now."

Barnabas was about to answer when the phone rang. He went to pick it up.

It was George, with he good news.

"Buffy _and_ Julia?""

"Yes. At the same time. Isn't it great? Julia had a girl and Buffy a boy. Julia's going to call her Gretchen Alberta for her parents. And Buffy and Frank are naming the baby Lyndon."

Barnabas looked at Quentin and the others. What a time for this to happen...Julia and Buffy did not need this complication...

* * *

Hallie held herself. She had to find Zoya and stop her. She suspected what she had been up to, and unless she moved quickly, Zoya could still destroy her.

But she was weakened by her pregnancy. If she fought Zoya now, her child might die in the womb and Ra would not be pleased.

The child had to live, had to be born, because only at his birth would she come fully into her powers.

Could she risk waiting the time it took for delivery?

* * *

Zoya wondered where Adam could be. She had lost his trail in the woods.

She had thought that he might be lost, but she did not believe that anymore.

Something had happened. Something with the hand. Maybe Adam had used it. Maybe he had recovered his memory and was going back to Collinsport.

Even if he did not remember who he was, he would go to Collinsport, following his homing instinct...

* * *

He really ought to kick them out, Barnabas thought, as he looked at the men again. For everyone's sake. For as long as they all stayed, they were all in danger.

And Quentin had tried to kill him... what did he owe him?

But he did owe Adam. And he had a debt of sorts with Sebastian, too...

What could he do? Quentin was not very good at using the hand. His own experience of it was quite disastrous. What did they expect him to do, anyway?

They needed help. He was not Angelique. He was not Megan. All he could do was to stumble along. Petofi had once shown him how vulnerable he really was and he had not forgotten it...

He could not kick them out... and that might not be enough to stave the wrath of the Romanos

Where could he find help?

"The hand will have to be returned." he finally said. "that might keep us safe from retaliation."

"But we can't!" Adam protested 'we need it."

"Argue it among yourselves. But you must return it" Barnabas answered coldly Now I am off to see Julia's new baby."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Julia received them smiling, but was unwilling to let go of Gretchen... She had waited so long to hold a child of her own, than now she was going to held on to her for as long as she could.

Barnabas just smiled. It was so good to see Julia happy after so many anguished days... He kissed Julia's forehead and watched Gretchen sleep.

Too bad that Richard could not be with her. Nunez could not be discharged yet, so he had to stay in Wyncliffe. But he probably had heard the news already.

After he left Julia he went to see Bufyy who was also holding on to Lyndon. She looked proud of him. With his cute little face he did not look much like LBJ...but go argue with a born Democrat like Frank...

"It is a beautiful baby." George said.

"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?' she asked. "I never thought this would happen, and yet..."

A few minutes of gushing ensued, then they excused themselves and left.

"Pretty babies, both of them, don't you think?" George asked.

"Yes. Very pretty. George, I have bad news. You better brace yourself."

* * *

"You are not kidding." George said while they were driving back. "you got a real problem. _We_ got a problem."

"I should have kicked them out. But I couldn't I felt that I owed them something."

"And then, even kicking them out would be no guarantee that the gypsies would not want revenge on you anyway. They already know of your complicity with Magda. They may well suspect you of being in this one."

"I want to keep everyone else out of it. I am vulnerable to them, as Trask demonstrated to me not so long ago."

"What a time for Angelique and Megan to fall off the grid. I cannot make contact with her, not for a while."

"I know a bit about spells..."

"A bit. Not enough against what these people can do."

"I know. Maybe we can get Old Munsungan to help us. But I would not like him to get mixed up in this. It was bad enough that he got in Laura's way."

"But he might be the one answer we need. And it might be worthwhile to contact Nicholas."

"Nicholas! No, if he got hold of the hand, he'd steal it."

"I do hope he steals it. Then the Romanos will go after him instead of you."

* * *

Hallie stood inside the circle of candles. She was going into labor soon. She would run the risk of a premature baby that might not survive. She needed to be delivered of the child before she tackled Zoya. Before Zoya got the power to fight her. She would use all her powers, all he salamanders in this fight. If need be, she would sacrifice the newborn child to Ra, along with David.

The flames at the end of the candles were the only light in the room, and she was naked, except for the golden scarab at her throat. Laura had given her that scarab with a promise. Laura had been defeated, but the promise was still there.

Her child would be born soon. And Ra would grant her full strength. With the strength of Ra in her she feared nothing, not even the powers that Zoya could command.

She took a candle and kissed the flame, drinking it.

The flame went into her and died in the candle.

She did the same with the other candles, until they were all extinguished, until she was all alone in the dark.

She put on her nightgown again as she felt her skin tingle, as he body began giving off a soft light of its own.

She walked to the window. Still dark out there. Ra was not to be seen, only the stars. They were as powerful as Ra, those stars but too far away to help. No, it would not be until dawn that Ra showed His face to her.

So she waited, the fire raging inside her. Soon the labor pains would begin. She was sure of that, now.

* * *

They had reached an agreement, Quentin, Sebastian, and Adam (nor before wrecking a couple of chairs and scaring the cats, which were now in the cellar, hissing).. They were going to trust Barnabas, and they were going to let him have the hand.

"You planning to return it to them?"

"I hope I can. But we are making other plans to cover ourselves. Tomorrow the three of you go to see Old Munsungan and put yourselves under his protection. He can protect us while I deal with the Romano tribe." Barnabas' manner was calmer now. He did not feel that way, what with that three man wrecking crew on the loose, but he had to impress Quentin and the others with a calm demeanor. "And we are going to contact Nicholas Blair."

"I remember Nicholas" Sebastian said. "a nasty fellow."

"He can be useful to us. He's ready to steal the hand, which means that he'd be the one hunted, not you." Barnabas pointed out.

"Do you know where he is?' Quentin asked.

"No, but Sebastian can find him for us."

Sebastian did not make them wait. He closed his eyes and went into a trance.

"I sense him." he said "But he's drunk. Has been drunk... Does not care for anything but the next drink."

So Nicholas had fallen back on his weakness. The shadow that Angelique had put on him had disappeared, but Nicholas had found yet another excuse to get drunk.

Barnabas groaned, wishing that they could find Angelique, but she had made certain that they could not contact her. Not for a while. She wanted to make sure that Megan did not run into Richard again, until time brought perspective to that doomed affair.

They would have to do with Nicholas..

"Can you see where he is?"

"I see a room. A dirty, smelly, small room."

Ran out of money too, probably. Well, they had used money to lure him back once. They could do it again.

Sebastian described the man lying on the bed on a drunken stupor, then the surroundings.

"Is there a phone next to the bed?"

"Yes."

"Can you see a number on it?"

Sebastian recited the number and Barnabas wrote it down.

"Good. Now get out of the room and describe outside. Go down to the lobby and find its name and address.

He wondered if there was any point in trying t get Nicholas back, whether he could do much more than fall drunk all over the place and get in people's way.

He had to give it a try.

He called the number. The phone rang, but no one answered it.

"Is the phone ringing there, too?'" he asked Sebastian.

"Yes. He hears it, and is trying to wake up to answer it."

Barnabas gave up "Too drunk. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow."

* * *

Patterson studied the equipment that Derek was trying to show to him.

"Are you store that we will need all of it?' he asked, mistrustfully.

"Yes. It is deep there, and there are risks. They explained it all to me."

"Hah!" Patterson said. "More likely they told you a pretty story so they could jack up the prices. I know how these guys operate. You have to keep an eye on them."

"They came well recommended."

"By whom? Fellow crooks?"

Derek tried to protest, but Patterson cut him short. "Don't say anything. I know your type. Of course I know that there is a Russian ship down there. I read about it myself. But that does not mean that I trust you. Brant warned me about you, and he must have some reason for it."

"I assure you..."

"Don't bother.. You are a crook. A cheap crook at that. But we need each other, so I am willing to overlook it."

* * *

Peter ran his fingers over the window pane.

Once he had done this and he had seen many wonderful things. Maybe he could again.

It had been when Yolanda was with him... In the way Yolanda had taught him to do...

They did not speak of Yolanda anymore... She had done something...something that he was not supposed to know.

But he still remembered her. He also remembered Delia, tough he did not like to think about her...

Nor his mother...

They did not speak of Delia, either, nor of his mother. There was been a few whispers and he had caught the word "Violet" but nothing else... Like Yolanda she had done something that he should not know.

Would he be able to say with Aunt Iris? She came and took him in, but then she was sick and had disappeared, and strangers came to take care of him...

And there had been whispers about that too..

He was afraid. He touched the windowpane again. He wanted to bring back the beautiful ballroom, to see that beautiful place again. Forget about Delia, and his mother, and the whispers...

On the pane, the figures began to form.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Quentin took the hand out of the box. He had to let Barnabas have it, and let him worry about returning it to its rightful owner. He knew that that was the sensible thing to do.

Yet some part of him wanted to cling to it. As if he did not know better, as if he did not carry on himself the effects of it, as if he was not wearing now Moe Howard's face...

And yet.. and yet...

The hand could still restore them. And could help them in so many ways. It had helped Tim Shaw once. Tim Shaw had done quite well for himself, after all. Why couldn't he get lucky too? It could solve Adam's problems too. And pay back Sebastian for his trouble and...

Only the damn hand could not be trusted. He had seen enough of what it could do. It came from Petofi, just like his portrait. Didn't he know already what dealing with Petofi meant?

Yet... Yet...

Barnabas saw him hesitate "You don't want to let go of it." he said.

"No, I don't" Quentin acknowledged...

Keeping the three of them separated had been the key, Barnabas thought, as long as they were not together, they did not behave like the Stooges. No more destruction, no smashed furniture or damaged walls, no terrified cats, just three cantankerous people waiting for anybody to show up to complain about their situation. Vicky had volunteered to keep Sebastian at her place, if he paid rent, as he did (she needed money, she said) and Adam was rooming with George. And he was with Quentin and the hand.

"You know how dangerous the hand is." he reminded Quentin.

"But still it could help."

"You know better, you of all people."

"I have been telling myself the same thing, but..."

"No buts, the sooner the hand goes back to the tribe, the better. Then we'll worry about restoring you three."

"This shaman, how good is he?"

"He is quite good."

"But you wanted to hedge your bets by calling in Nicholas, even if you know how unreliable he is."

"The idea is to put the blame on him. It is a dirty trick, but Nicholas has earned it, after the things he pulled on us. Specially what he did to Urien. He would have let him die of exhaustion, trying to get the mask back."

Quentin made a face "I was involved in that. Not something that I am proud of. I was looking for a way out of the nasty trick that Petofi had played on me, and that seemed to justify everything... That and having Carl haunting me... Well, Adam took care of it."

"Is Carl haunting you still?"

"No." He told Barnabas how it had happened. Barnabas listened without interrupting once.

"So you are free of him, at last."

"Yes. And you are off the hook too. He was never as angry with you as he was with me, and with good reason."

"Did he get to know how it was with me?"

"No. How it was with me?"

"I was compelled by a very old spell to kill one descendant of the sailors on a slave ship. And of the ship's owner. Carl was the Collins who paid for the ancestor's sins. Our family made money from the slave trade, and someone had to pay for it. Poor Carl was the designated victim. And I was chosen as the executioner... Well, it was an old sin, and retribution was blind... Well, at least that is done for. The debt is paid, and the punishment is complete.."

His eyes were lost in the distance seeing again the figures of the slaves who vanished as soon as their chains were broken... An old sin...one in which all generations of Collinses, not matter how seemingly innocent, had participated. And Carl paid for all.. The innocent lamb...

"It seems incredible, isn't it?" Quentin said. "What you and I went through together."

"Yes, incredible."

"We were once friends. Or at least close enough. What happened? When did we grow apart?"

"I don't know." Barnabas admitted "I just found myself having less and less patience with you."

"Yes. I was a spoiled child and well past the age when such behavior is cute. That was why I moved around so much. The more I kept on the move, the less chance people had to get fed up with me. I could charm them but only for a while You know, that's was why Angelique granted me my freedom. She just could not stand me anymore."

"Yet now, you _have_ changed."

"Yes. Thanks to Adam. And now he is this mess and I have to get him out. Only I wish I knew how. I am going to trust you, because all other alternatives do not seem to work. But still I am a bit skeptical of what you can do."

"Old Munsungan can help you."

"Yes. You have a lot of faith in him. Only I don't know his so well. And you seemed a bit reluctant to involve him."

Barnabas sighed. "It did not seem... appropriate. He's not the type to be involved in the kind of troubles are always hip deep in. He is a wise man, and wise men do not get into such tangles. I feel that it would be...undignified for him to be involved in this. But he is powerful. I found out how after the gull attack."

"Did he have anything to do with that time that the gulls went crazy and went after Louella?"

"He had everything to do with it."

* * *

George had promised that he'd get to Nicholas. He was not so sure that it was a good idea. If he was back on the bottle, all he could do was get drunk and muck up. He remembered the last time he had done it. Megan had had to send the ticket money more than once since he tended to drink it, not to mention get lost and lose buses because he had passed out from the drink. And then, once he got to Collinsport, all he had been asked to do was sign a statement, and that took some doing...

No, it had not been one of his best ideas.

But still he had to try.

He dialed the number and listened to it ring. It rang over ten times, but he did not hang up. If Nicholas was there in a stupor, the ringing may wake him up.

At the twenty-fifth ring the phone was picked up. A voice came through, not a very clear voice. It was Nicholas.

"You want me to go there?" Nicholas managed to ask.

"Yes. As fast as you can."

"Why, you need me..." Nicholas sounded calculating. George ground his teeth. Now would come some pathetic attempt to exploit the situation. He knew drunks and he knew Nicholas, and a drunken Nicholas was something he wished he did not have to deal with.

He promised to send Nicholas the money for the bus ticket and Nicholas promised to get there as soon as he could.

As he hung up, George knew that Nicholas would drink the money they sent him, and that they would have to send him more and more. And what for? What good would Nicholas do them in his state, anyway? Megan had had trouble enough, and she could threaten with Angelique's retaliation. He did not have even that.

They were grasping at straws hat's what they were doing. Between Adam's and Quentin's stupidity, they were put in a position where they had to work miracles. He felt like tweaking noses and poking eyes they next time he saw Moe or Curly. Not Larry. He felt sorry for Sebastian, kidnapped at gunpoint to help in this with his gifts. Gifts? More like curses, considering the trouble they got him into.

He was too angry to go back to work. He would take the rest of the day off. In his state of mind he would do something that he would bitterly regret later, like beating up the prisoners, like the drunk now sleeping it off in one of the cells (actually, he had turned the jail into a temporary homeless shelter, not all the inmates slept there because of any charges nor drunkenness - he hoped for more permanent accommodations).

He saw that Urien had come in, and was watching him with concern in his face.

"You feeling bad?" Urien asked.

He nodded. "I can take only so much frustration. There are times when I think of leaving it all and joining the Hare Krishnas. And this is one of those times."

"Hare Krishnas?" Urien was polite enough not to laugh at the idea of George in an orange robe, his head shaved except for a ponytail and beating on a tambourine. "you would not like it. They re only allowed sex once a month."

George shrugged. "Yes, that would be a drawback. Yet there are times when it sounds attractive. At least I would not have the problems I have to handle. If wonder if a sex life is wroth that much aggravation."

"I would think that a sex life is wroth it."

George sighed. "You are young. You got a lot more energy than I do. Surprising as it may sound to you, there is more to life than getting laid."

"I know there is. I am finding a lot of new things to do. A whole world I did not suspect it existed. Like the work I do at the Environmental Center. All those strange animals, the barnacles, and the anemones, and..."

'It is very interesting, isn't it?"

"Very. And I would not have ever known of it if Barnabas had not insisted I do it."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Old Munsungan looked at the trio in front of him. He had seen some of the white man's entertainment, so he recognized what they were supposed to represent. He did not show it. They did not wish to be that kind of clowns and it hurt them to be laughed at, no matter how unintentional the hurt was.

He sensed more about them. That the had clung to their childhood far longer than it was wise for men to do so, and that was maybe why they had been transformed as they had... except for the third one, there was something odd about his childhood, yet in him maturity was also delayed.

There was a human hand in this. A severed human hand, mummified by the years. The spirit of the man whose hand it was had lingered somehow in it. A malign, sardonic spirit. There were those who knew how to keep it in check, but none of the them were with them.

"The hand will have to be returned." Munsungan said flatly "only grief will come to you through it."

Adam tried to protest, but Munsungan silenced him. "There are those who can use it safely, but you are not one of them. The hand is a bringer of fire. It attracts fire to itself. It should be returned to those who can use it safely."

"We have given it to Barnabas." Quentin said "he will see that it is returned."

"But what about me?" Adam said.

"And me?" Sebastian interjected "I do not wish to look like this."

"I will restore you."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes. It will not be easy to remove the spell, as the hand is strong in power as well as malevolence. I will need to be prepared. Come back tomorrow."

* * *

Hallie lied down on her hospital bed. She had had to be rushed to the hospital, as her child was born prematurely. The child was now born, and it had been taken to the incubator. Little Eliot (she had decided on his name already) slept there now, all alone. And she was alone too, supposedly trying to sleep.

But there was something that needed doing before she slept. Now at last she had come into her full powers.. Or at least most of them. The ones that mattered. She had still to offer Eliot and David to Ra. Only with their sacrifice will her power be complete.

Yes, she would take David with her. With his heritage, he too would return as a phoenix. He could not deny Laura's heritage forever.

But for all of her power, she felt weak.

She had just given birth, and her body wanted a rest... And she would rest. After she tested her powers.

She summoned her salamanders. They all came to her summons. Even Yolanda..

She wondered at Yolanda. A rebellious salamander could be dangerous. It was Priscilla who had caused Laura's downfall...

She would keep a close watch on Yolanda.

But now it was time to attend to Zoya.

She ordered her salamanders to show her where a trace of Zoya could be found. Zoya had hidden herself, but she had not hidden her trail.

What were the Three Stooges doing in her visions?

She wanted to see Zoya, not Saturday Morning TV. Angrily she raised a whip of flames and used it to beat the salamanders. They screamed in pain as the lash cut through them.

"This is your idea, isn't it?' She turned to Yolanda. "Treacherous little bitch."

Yolanda writhed, dancing in the flame. She screamed, but her screams were silenced by a gesture.

"You are forgetting your place again, Yolanda Overton. You must learn it again. You will remain in torment until you remember it again."

She turned to the other salamanders, seeing the fear in them.

"You see what happens when you disobey. Now show me Zoya's trail."

The same short film of the Stooges came once more, but before she could punish the salamanders again, it vanished, and she was shown a disembodied hand which raised itself and _stared_ at her.

It was impossible that a hand, which had no eyes, could stare. But this hand stared. And it mocked her too.

"I dare you fight me, Hallie Collins. I am the stronger, not you."

Then the vision shattered. She saw for a fraction of a second Zoya's face, but then it was gone...

A disembodied hand...

What did it mean?

She was not well enough to continue. Her body needed to rest. Tomorrow she would try again.

She curled in the bed and went to sleep.

Yolanda remained standing, screaming in pain...

* * *

"My son" That was all that David could think as he watched the tiny body in the incubator.

Eliot Collins. That was his name. Eliot for Hallie's uncle. Collins... The next Collins generation, and hope that it turned out better than the previous one.

Hope that he turned to be a better father than Roger..

Maybe he could send his father a card, telling him that he was now a grandfather...

No, Roger was too busy being a father to Edmund...

Let him be.

By now Roger was just another relative with whom he shared genes and nothing else... Better than a stranger, but no more.

He was not angry with Roger anymore. He did not blame him for his continuing problems... He just felt nothing for him.

It would not be like that for Little Eliot. He'd make sure of that.

* * *

Zoya hoped that she would find Adam in Collinsport.

He should be there. Where else could he go?

Except that he might, for reasons of his own, avoid coming here at all. Might have bad memories of the place. Or there might be a place with stronger emotional ties. Some place where he had been happy, even if briefly...

Still, Collinsport was the best bet.

If he was in Collinsport Adam could get help. Either the witch Angelique or the vampire Barnabas could help him, that much she had gathered from her short stay in Collinsport.

So she had to go to Collinsport...

And she sensed that Hallie was not at Collinsport anymore..

* * *

"She had the baby?" Barnabas said delighted over the phone. "that's wonderful. Isn't it a bit early, though?""

"Yes. But the doctors say that we have nothing to worry about. He will have to stay for a while in the incubator, but the prognosis is good... It is a boy. We are going to call him Eliot, for the professor."

"I was going to suggest the same thing."

David laughed. "Trust you to come with suggestions on what we should do, no matter what."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Urien seemed embarrassed as he tried to talk to George.

"Is there something that you want to ask me?'

"It is what you said, that there is more to life than getting laid."

"Surprising as it may seem, it is true."

"But you never did it with girls" Urien blurted out.

"And you have done it with both, so you think that you know more than I do?'" he could not help being a bit sarcastic.

"It is not that... it is.."

"It is that you do not think I'd understand. You want to talk about it, and if you talk to Barnabas, you are afraid that he'll lecture you."

"Yes. I want to know what you mean... and if you had ever tried with girls, maybe you'd not be so sure."

"Urien, there is not that much difference. Just because I cannot get excited by women does not mean that I do not recognize the same behavior. I have got to listen to my deputies complaints about their wives, and the wives complaints... And really it is not that different. I did sympathize with the deputies sometimes, and with the wives sometimes. People are people, no matter what the gender... And that time when I got shot, and Barnabas got all worried about it, he sounded just like one of the wives when a deputy gets shot. So, Urien, I may not be authority on heterosexual relations, but I am an authority on adult behavior."

"So?"

"Urien, now you are young, full of hormones, and do not think that there is nothing more important than getting laid. Later on you realize that sex is just part of relationship, and that a diet of sex alone is as fulfilling as eating nothing but McDonald's. If you ever tasted _cioppino_ you'd know what you'd been missing. Same as with love and commitment. "

Urien nodded. not sure that he believed it. Give it time. You could not grow up just by wanting do so.

* * *

"You are going to return the hand?" Quentin asked Barnabas.

"Yes. The sooner the better. We might want to know why Adam thought that he was Anton Romano, and if that confusion of his might have led to him taking the hand, to make himself remember.."

"No blaming Nicholas?"

"Nicholas lost the bus again, and he drank the money for the ticket. He is just not going to get here."

"Will they give you a chance to explain?"

"I can try to summon King Johnny Romano to judge it."

Quentin shook his head. "I wish I had your confidence. Damn it, why couldn't Adam have asked Julia for help? Of if he did not want Julia, why not another shrink? He could find one easily. Why did he think that there was an easy and quick answer to his problems? Didn't he know that nothing that is worth it comes easily? That if it is any good, you got to sweat for it?"

Barnabas could not hide his surprise at hearing Quentin, of all people, say those things.

"Yes. I know. You used to tell me the same things and I did not believe them. But I had some excuse. That portrait did a very through job of keeping me from learning a damn thing."

"You told me that."

"If it weren't for Adam, it would have gone on and on. That's why I have to help him. But I wish that he used his brains more... I owe him so much. You have no idea how much it means to me... Compared to me, you were lucky with your curse."

"Lucky?"

"It did not keep from having a good life, a good position, good friends. That I could never have, because no matter how good things looked for me, I'd do something to wreck it. You can always hope for a better tomorrow, and can actually make it happen. While I... I knew that my past would be my future no matter how much I tried."

Barnabas acknowledged it. "Do you have any plans for when this mess is over?"

"I do.. It is something that I have been thinking on my way back. Did I tell you how I found Adam? Sleeping on the ground, slowly freezing to death?"

"Yes."

"There are hundreds, even thousands of men, and women, and even children in that position now. We have grown calloused and do not see them. I want to help them."

"We are trying to set up a homeless shelter. I tried to offer the Old House, but they said that it had two drawbacks. One no electricity, and another, a resident vampire."

"A homeless shelter is a temporary solution. I want something more permanent."

* * *

"Are you sure about the ingredients?' Trask asked Vicky who was stirring the pot.

"They are all healthy, good ingredients. Just because some part of the vegetables have gone bad does not mean that the rest of them cannot be used. They still have their nutrients is them."

"But to use what is actually refuse... The parts that the cannery throws away..."

"They have a lot of protein, and calcium. They make a good broth."

"But to give a soup made out leavings, or refuse..."

"It tastes good, it is nutritious. It is good to give canned food from the pantry for those who need it, and allowing them the privacy. But when they come in the are hungry, and a cup of soup works wonders, Specially in this cold. And we can give it to then in thermos bottles for later."

"But to give what is basically garbage..."

"The question is why do we throw perfectly good food into the garbage? I have been hungry, Reverend, you forget. That food that you scorn as garbage tasted perfectly good to me. It tastes perfectly good to them. And by the way, don't you know that cuisine is an artifact of poverty? Making do with what you have, even if it is some leavings. What is coq au vin? It is an old rooster who died of old age, and who is so tough and stringy that it needs to be boiled in wine before it can be eaten. What is sausage? It is meat leavings, scraped off the bones, gristle, and grains, all into one dish.. What is aspic? what results from boiled cattle hooves, because that is the only part of the animal that you can afford. What is chitlins? A part of the pork that more affluent people look on with disgust. I am part of a grand tradition, Reverend. And I am doing my best."

* * *

Willie lifted Gretchen in his arms. "A pretty baby, isn't she? Not as pretty as Pearl, but..

"Of course, no baby is as pretty as Pearl was." Louella laughed. "It goes without saying. But it is a healthy baby. No question about that."

"No. No problems." Julia said "I did worry a lot about it, though."

"Well, it turned out all right. And Buffy had hers, and now David and Hallie. We are in the middle of a baby explosion."

* * *

Zoya stopped for a cup of coffee and some donuts at the cafe. Collinsport was still the same... Was Adam there?

The short order cook put the patties on the grill. They sizzled and some melted fat seemed to grow blue and catch fire.

Zoya froze.

But it did not light up. No, it was not Hallie. Or maybe it was, but she was not strong enough, yet.

She had to get the hand fast. The more she waited, the likelier Hallie would be to strike.

* * *

"Did we have to return the hand?" Adam whispered to Quentin as they waited for the old shaman to come.

"You know we had to. They would not help otherwise."

"But we could have used the hand to defend ourselves."

"I already did that. That's how you ended up being Curly Howard."

"There must be another way."

"Adam, you screwed up enough already. Now stop and do as you are told. You don't want to tangle with the Romano tribe."

"I already did. They stole my self from me."

"That will have to be settled. But first let's do this."

They were admitted to Munsungan's presence, he was sitting on the floor, staring at the drawings in the dust.

"The hand has to be returned. It brings fire to itself."

"It is being returned now." Quentin said.

Munsungan looked a the drawings. They announced that a big fight was coming. It might be his last...

He looked up at the men. So be it. He had fought for his people when he needed to. And he would fight again if it was needed. Now he had to restore these men.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hallie closed her fist. She could do it. She could use her power and destroy Zoya. It was her that she felt that time when she had gotten that image of a short order cook hovering around.

Yet it might not be her... What about the short order cook? And what about seeing the Three Stooges again? It might not have been Yolanda's fault... Not that Yolanda did not need disciplining often...

The short order cook. The Three Stooges, and only a whiff of Zoya...

And maybe it was not Zoya that she sensed but a decoy, crated to Zoya herself, to deflect any attacks...

Zoya was using the power of the Romano family to shield herself and send false information.

She wished that she could have learned more from Uncle Eliot. Being a phoenix did not come with a set of instructions. She had to find her way through.

Uncle Eliot must have left some notes somewhere.

Yes, she remembered. Julia Hoffman had those notes. She had been made executor of them, for the simple reason that she knew what they were about. When she finished cataloguing them, they would probably go to some research library...

She could not ask about them without using suspicion. And while she could use her powers to help locate them, she was afraid that the fire that she commanded could get out of control and consume them...

She realized that she missed her baby. That she wanted Eliot with her. It was ridiculous. She would not bond with the child. It would make it easier to sacrifice him if she did not bond with him...

Let him stay safely in the incubator for now.

* * *

She had to find the hand, Zoya decided. There was no other way for her. Without the hand, she was helpless against Hallie.

There were ways of finding things that you wished to know. Traditional ways. But they involved fire, and that she did not dare do.

There was another way, using blood. Human blood, mixed with that of an animal. She had not done it before, and she could not ask for help... She would just have to rely on the memory of having it seen done.

Damn it, how had she gotten herself involved in this? Hallie seemed so much like a regular customer, nothing to give away what she really was.

And then she had struck.

She had been helpless before Hallie after that. Doing her bidding., seeing her burn the girls and the young me who came to her for advice and to know their future. Their future was to be salamanders.

And she watched it happen, knowing that it would be her future, too.

She'd better perform that ritual and hope for the best.

She stopped at the pet shop and bought some mice. The ones that were used to feed snakes and lizards. Their blood, mixed with her own would provide her with answers..

Then she'd had to go to the store for herbs. She would have gathered them in the woods herself, but the snow covering the ground made it impossible. She just hoped that that was all that she needed.

She went to her room. She slaughtered the mice and collected the blood in a bowl. Then she cut her hand and let the blood flow into the bowl. Then she added the herbs, sat down and muttered the words of power.

Slowly the images began to form.

* * *

Derek stood on the wharf. Soon it would be all finished, the winter would be over, and the diving would begin. Soon he would be here, waiting for the divers to bring the treasure up.

It was finally true. He was finally going to find it. It was a fairy tale that he had told himself, something that one day he might be able to do. Now it was real, within his reach.

And he felt a stab of fear. What if it disappointed him? What if it was not so wonderful as he had dreamed it? He had seen the jewels so many times in his mind, that whatever he saw now would come as a disappointment.

Anyway, he would find something. And Sheriff Brant would have to admit that he was wrong. Yes. He could imagine that. Brant's eyes big as saucers, his jaw dropping, finding out that it had been for real, after all.

Pity about Brant. He was not a bad fellow. But it was too late to make him a partner now.

Damn it, he liked Brant. A lot better than Patterson, for that matter. Brant had been the first cop that had treated him as a human being.

The air was brisk and getting colder, now that the sun had set.

Now that the sun had set... he had seen it set, and had regretting it as it robbed the world of color by doing so. And yet not so long ago, he had not seen the sun at all.

But he quickly got the habitude of it again. The sun in his body, warming it, the light in his eyes. He was no longer bound by the thirst and the coffin.

Why shouldn't he dive himself? It was possible for him, very possible. He could find the treasure by himself, swimming among the kelp and the fishes in the cold water.

There was no reason why he could not.

* * *

Barnabas waited for the Three Stooges to return (he thought, guiltily, that he should not refer to them this way, and that, anyway, when they came back they would be restored.).

He took out the hand and looked at it again. He shivered at the sight of its mummified flesh. He knew what it could do. He had seen plenty of it already.

With luck the Romano tribe would take it back and that would be the end of it. He would never see it again.

He put it back quickly and hid it behind the bookcase. He'd better keep it safe.. Nothing must happen to it until they came for it... And before he returned it, there was a bargain to be made.

He wished, as he had done before, that he did not have to be involved in this, that he was not again in a position to bring danger to those he loved. But wishing for it did not make it so.

It was then that Urien came to tell him that a young woman wanted to see him.

She was a gypsy, all right. The representative of the Romano tribe. They had been quick in locating him.

"You have something that belongs to us." Zoya said "you have to give it back."

"What is your name, young lady?"

"My name does not matter. You know who I represent, what people I come from.

"Suppose I do. What then?"

"Do not attempt to deny it. There will be evil consequences for you if you refuse to give us what is due to us. We will recover what is ours by any means necessary."

"There is a matter to be settled first with your people. A matter of kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?"

"Adam Deale Atwater. He was kidnapped by your people, made to forget who he was, and made to assume an identity that was not his own. His life was stolen from him. He has recovered his own self and named your people for it. He ran away and would have died of exposure trying to reach this town, where he could be helped to recall his name." Barnabas spoke firmly. "If he had died your people would have killed him. Before I return to you what you say is yours, we must settle this."

"I will give you my word that we will not bother him again."

"Your word is not enough. The head of the tribe himself must give his word. I want him to come here and swear that Adam Atwater will never be subject to their tricks again. That he renounces all claims on Anton Romano."

"That is not possible."

"Then the hand will not be returned."

"We could take what is ours."

"I could destroy it."

Her eyes widened in horror. "You must not!"

"I will throw it in the fire."

She flinched. Not the fire. She was with the corner of her eye that his fireplace was blazing. She could not stay there. Already the flames were growing...

"I.. I will transmit your message to him."

"Good. Tell him to come by himself, alone."

She left. She could not produce King Ruslan Romano, but she could steal the hand. She would come back in the daytime, when Barnabas slept. She knew where the hand was kept. She had seen his eyes point to the spot as he spoke of it.

As she had said to him, she could just come and take it.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Zoya was ready to use her knife. She hoped that she did not have to, but if she did, she was quite willing for it to happen.

The Old House seemed empty. She could not detect anybody in there. Of course, Barnabas Collins would be in his coffin by now, unable to do anything about her.

But there was also the boy who had let her in..

She decided to gamble it. She had a set of skeleton keys, a gift from a cousin who did some housebreaking every now and then.. She had little trouble letting herself in with them. It was an old-fashioned lock, none of the electronic stuff that could be such a pain.

She got in. No one inside. She could not look all over the place. It was an awfully large house, but she knew where to look. In the library, behind some books.

Easier, yes, but not too easy. There were lots of book there.

She pulled down a whole shelf of books. Nothing in there. There had been other things behind the books, but no hand. Evidently Barnabas Collins was not the neatest of persons, and the kid with him was not a stellar housekeeper, either.

She pulled down more books. She opened several of them, even if it was clear that nothing of the hand's dimensions could fit inside any of them.

She touched something in pulling down another shelf, and the bookcase moved.

It was a secret passage, leading to some room. Maybe the hand was in there.

She went in. It was dark, but she could see the long shape inside it. Too large for the hand.

She lifted the lid. Of course, Barnabas Collins. This was his coffin.

The hand was not in the coffin with him. Nor anywhere else in this room. Wasted time. Back to the bookcase until all the books were out and the shelves bare.

As she left the secret room she heard this small noise, like a key turning.

The kid was coming back.

She wanted to hide... no time to put the books back.. the secret room was not a good idea... she could end up trapped there...

She better face him

"What are you doing here?" Urien asked, angrily

"I am... I am.." she cringed, pretending fear, while reaching for her knife.

"No! You don't!" he caught her arm and bent it back until she let the knife fall down.

He rushed her to the telephone "I am going to call the cops on you."

She looked at the secret room where Barnabas lay "Will you call the cops with him in there?"

"They know about him already."

He dialed and she closed her eyes, calling for the hand in her mind, sending all her power to it..

"I don't know what you may be looking for, but you can tell it to the cops."

Something was moving behind the books. Slowly climbing them. The hand reached to the top and stretched its fingers. Urien had his head turned, as he dialed the phone and did not see it float in the air.

The fingers closed on the back of his neck.

He screamed and fought for a few seconds, then suddenly he let go and collapsed on the floor.

The hand held him a bit longer, then let him go.

Zoya was afraid to touch the hand. Yet she knew that she had to. She threw a cloth over it, as if it could protect her from its power, then put it under her arm, and raced out.

* * *

"Such a beautiful baby." Richard said to Julia "You called her Gretchen, didn't you?"

"Gretchen Alberta, for both of them."

Richard agreed. It was fitting.

"I thought I would never see the day." he said "when I would hold another Hoffman in my hands. Yet it has come. Things do happen, after all."

'Yes. They do."

Richard caressed Gretchen's soft, silky tuft of hair. "I remember when you were like this. Gretchen gave you to me to hold and I felt awkward. You were such a tiny thing, and my hands were so big and clumsy. You were so beautiful. So was your mother. I had a crush on her. I wonder if Albrecht knew. There was something ethereal about her. They had culture, refinement, and somehow it seemed as if nothing could touch them. But they were wrong about that. We felt so secure... It was a warm day, with the sun streaking through the windows, just like today. And again I have a baby in my hands...

Julia kissed him on the cheek. She had never seen him so shaken before, and this vulnerability of his shook her too.

"Too bad that Barnabas cannot be here, to. I owe him for this moment. If it wasn't for him I would not be holding Gretchen now."

"It is daytime. You know how it is with him."

"Yes. Same as it used to be with me." He looked up at the sunlight as it came through, making patterns on the floor "I used to say that I did not miss the sun. But now I have it again, and I realize that I did miss sit, after all. I have a second chance in life. And I am not sure of what to make of it. You loved him because he reminded you of me."

"Yes."

"Just as I loved you because you remained me of Gretchen. And he loved Maggie because she reminded him of Josette. Love among the mirrors."

"That's a good description."

"And I got the sunlight back and he did not. I wonder if he resents me for that."

"I don't think so. He's more likely to agonize whether it was right to use Nunez as he did."

"I would have no scruples myself about Nunez... But it has been a long time since I had scruples about anything."

Gretchen woke up and began to cry. Richard cuddled her and fussed over her, but Gretchen did not calm down.

"Either she is hungry or she needs her diapers changed." Julia said.

Richard handed her back to Julia who offered her the bottle. Gretchen sucked at it until she calmed down.

"We have to make plans for you. Where you will go after you leave Wyncliffe. One thing that you could do is take over Chris Jennings' farm. There is money to be made out of those chickens, if you are willing to work at it."

"That would be a good way to start. Would Chris be selling it to me or will I just be a tenant?"

"I guess that you better stay a tenant. You may want to move on later."

"Yes, that would make sense."

"And you have to come up with a name for you. You can't go on calling yourself John Doe as we signed Nunez in. We need a better name than that."

"What about Hoffman?"

"Don't be silly. Something that sounds right. Say, why not take the phone directory and look at the first name you find?"

Richard did so.

"Xerox"

"Xerox?"

"I guess I opened it at the yellow pages."

"Well, I am not sure. How does Vinnie Xerox sound?"

"Awful."

"Awful, yes. I am going to try again. What about Nelson?"

"Nelson is a good name."

"And for first name Howard?"

"Yes. that sounds right."

"Howard Nelson... It has a certain right to it."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Urien!" Barnabas held him in his arms. "Who did this to you?"

Urien did not answer. He could not. Barnabas looked around, at the books thrown over the place, at the bare shelves..

He turned Urien's head, and at the back of the neck he saw the imprint of fingers...

Damn it, damn it! He knew that something like this would happen. It had been like that before. And Urien's stupor was not so strange. The effects of the hand were usually damaging, even if unpredictable in their expression.

Urien's stupor might wear off by itself, or it might lapse into a coma. He'd better take him to the hospital. He did not think that the hospital could cure Urien, but at least they could hook him to an IV so that he did not die of thirst and hunger. Then he'd figure out what to do. Of if there was something to be done... The gypsies had the hand again, and if the trio had been restored, then there was nothing else to do.

Quentin arrived just as he was getting into the car, to take Urien to the hospital.

"What happened to him?" Quentin asked.

"The hand attacked him. Whether by itself, or commanded by the gypsies when they came for it."

""Are you sure?"

"Look at the back of his neck. You'll see the finger marks."

Quentin looked at them and shivered.

"I did not mean for him to get hurt. I only wanted Angelique to help us, to help Adam."

"You did not wish it, but it happened. Too many things happen around is."

"I had to help Adam. And I had gotten Sebastian involved. I owed it to him to try to find a way out. Damn it, why did this have to happen?"

"At least it was not worse. That is what I keep telling myself, that it was not worse."

Quentin got in the car next in the back seat, holding Urien. Barnabas drove away

"Do you think that this is really over..."

"I think it is. The gypsies got their property back, and they know how to control the hand. You, Adam and Sebastian are now under Munsungan's protection... You saw him in action, didn't you?"

'Yes. By the way, shouldn't Carolyn be told about Adam, about what happened to him? Shouldn't she know why he left her? That it was not because he did not love her, but because he felt going out of control? That he was mind-napped by the people he went to ask for help?"

"She is out of town now. In a vacation of sorts to Boston. But you can contact her when she comes back."

Quentin grimaced. "It might be awkward for me to say it. I am, after all, her ex-husband. It does not put me in the position of a matchmaker."

"I'd contact her myself, but I am not sure where I stand in her good graces. Well, we can wait until she comes back from Boston, and then we'll flip a coin to see who notifies her."

"How did she take it, Adam's desertion? Or what she took as desertion?"

"She almost became a drunk. But she pulled herself together and decided to have a social life more satisfying than the one she had. That's why she went to Boston. More people at her level to socialize with."

"I am glad that she is doing OK."

"I am a bit amazed at you, Quentin."

"Why?"

"I am not accustomed for you to show so much concern for others Genuine concern."

"What can I tell you? I have done a lot of growing up since I left Collinsport. It feels as if my eyes and ears have been unstoppered. I don't know how to explain it better. Suddenly I see and hear things I never noticed before. Suddenly I find it impossible not to care, the way I used to. I feel myself tempted to go back to what I used to be, but the temptation passes quickly. I can say what it is right, and what is wrong... I am unwilling to let someone else suffer for my convenience. And I don't feel that I am cheating myself when I deny myself. I feel strong. I wanted to be the Master of Collinwood. Now I'd settle for being the master of myself."

"Yes. you have grown up a lot. Well, here's the hospital. I hope that they'll keep Urien stabilized until he recovers."

"And if he does not recover?"

"Then I'll ask for Munsungan's help."

* * *

"Vicky, I got you some customers." George brought the ragged family forward. "They were almost freezing in their car. They are passing through, and their money ran out..."

Vicky sighed. Another family trying to survive the economic disaster. Looking for work, running out of money, running out of food... She handed then bowls of soup that they devoured with relish. She felt tears form as she looked at the two children. Today they would eat... tomorrow.?"

"I will put them up for the night at the jail. It is warm and safe there. Tomorrow I will look for better accommodations. And a way for them to earn money."

"Ask Barnabas, he's likely to know of something."

"I keep thinking that the Old House could make a good homeless shelter. Except."

"Except for two things. Lack of electricity, and the presence of Barnabas. A resident vampire is not going to make people want to go there."

"Well, we'll come up with a solution. I imagine that some farms here might want some helping hands... Some elderly people who need strong arms in order to keep their place running. This way they do not have to sell them and can stay in their homes."

"Yes, that would be a solution."

The children had finished the bowls. One of them looked shyly at Vicky, offering her the bowl?

"Please sir, can I have more?" George recited, remembering Oliver Twist.

"Yes, he can." Vicky dipped the ladle once more and refilled the bowl.

* * *

It had started. The fire would rage about. It would strike the hand and the hand would strike back, hurling the fire back and the source, and pieces of it would be scattered all over...

The white man's town would be consumed by the fire. So would the red man's home. Red man, white man, burning in the same flame...

Munsungan saw it, most vividly. The hand had not left Collinsport. It was hiding somewhere in town, carrying death and destruction with it, ready to be unleashed.

He remembered Laura, not so long ago. It was not her this time, but very much like her...

"Come here, Redwolf." he instructed the younger man. "tell me what you see."

"What is there to see? Fire?"

"Look closely. Look with your inner eyes."

Redwolf strained. What was there to see in the fire? Flames, flames, and more flames.

And something else.

"Have you seen it?'" Munsungan asked him.

"The hand. And the woman who looks like Laura... can it be Laura? Could she be trying to escape again?"

"I sense that it is not her. Whoever she is, she will fight the hand of the dead man. And the fire will come and destroy us unless we stop it."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Sheriff" Derek was blushing slightly "There is something that you should know."

"That you think highly of me and that you want me to invest, and that you like me better than Patterson?"

"Patterson has been saying... certain things about you. About your sex life."

"And you want me to tell you that they are not true?"

Derek shook his head. "He should not talk that way. But I know that you and Barnabas Collins are lovers."

George stared at him, not sure what he was leading to, while Derek reddened visibly..

"You see, I got to watch once... while I was still flying around. I happened to be outside that particular window and... I saw."

"You didn't!"

"I did not mean to spy on you. I just wanted to talk to you about something or other, but Barnabas was already there. I decided to wait until whatever business you had was finished. Only it took longer than I expected..."

He was beet red now. George felt pity for him.

"All right. you found out. And you said nothing."

"What was there to say? I told you, I like you. You are the first cop who treated me decently and that counts a lot in my book. "But Patterson is making trouble, and..."

"Derek, don't worry about Patterson. You just take him for what you can get. If it gets too bad, I'll handle him."

* * *

Urien tried to find his way. Where was he? What was happening to him?

He knew who he was. Urien Yost. No, not Yost anymore, Urien Collins. He had been adopted by Barnabas Collins, the vampire and regular busybody of Collinsport.

He worked as a volunteer at the Environmental Center, and wanted to become a biologist...

But he was somewhere else now... His body did not feel like his anymore... Something had happened to him...

Why couldn't he open his eyes? Why couldn't he move?"

And he was now floating somewhere else... he was sure of that...

He could hear other noises, could hear Barnabas' voice, too, but far... far away...

His name was Urien... Collins... He had been a hustler, a male prostitute, for a while, then a vampire had decided to reform him...

His name was Urien.. Yost... he was floating somewhere and could not open his eyes to know where he was. His faced ached, but dully...

Maybe if he strained enough he'd be able to open his eyes...

* * *

Little Phillip gawked at the seagulls swooping down the water. He pointed at them, trying to draw Vicky's attention to them.

Vicky was glad to see him so animated. She was feeling a lot better now herself. She was getting more students, to the point that she was thinking of hiring another teacher to share the load. She was teaching some computer courses too, not just literacy classes...

Megan had give her wise advice.. she only wished she was there so that she could thank her for it. The food pantry and soup kitchen was working out too. While Trask wondered if she would have the time to do it all, she had chosen several of the pantry's clients to do some of the tasks, as a way to pay for their food. She made it clear that there was little money to be had in the outfit yet, that they depended on donations, so they could not afford to pay wages. But there were extra cans of food, and extra bowls of soup. And sometimes donations of a different kind, and those who helped out had first pick of those..

Things were getting better bit by bit...

If only she knew what had happened to Phillip...

She no longer felt lost, as if she had no protection, no means of support without her husband. She could manage by herself. But if she did not miss Phillip materially, she missed him most terribly emotionally. She needed him, as he had needed her.

Sometimes she thought that he could still be alive... But could it really be?

No one had found the body, true, and because of that the insurance company had refused to pay. That and the suspicion that he had committed suicide...

And Phillip had gone missing once, and returned. Why not now?

She looked at the sea, but there were no answers, just the waves crashing on the shore.

She looked back at little Phillip who ran laughing to her. Yes, she had little Phillip. that much she was certain about...

* * *

Zoya put the hand on the ground, by her side. It was hers at last. And with it she no longer feared Hallie. Let her try to send her salamanders. She was ready for them...

She may even destroy Hallie herself.

* * *

"Chris Jennings seems quite content with the idea." Julia told Richard, or rather Howard as she tried to teach herself to think of him, "He says that you are welcome to make a go of his farm. And if you feel in the mood for planting turnips or something like that, he wishes you the best of luck."

"So there will be no problem there."

"None. He is happy enough where he is. He and his wife are adopting threechildren, a two boys and a girl. There were few takers for them, since everybody wanted perfect babies, so the adoption was quite easy for them."

"Chris Jennings, is he the werewolf?"

"Yes. His wife's a werewolf, too. A reporter who got infected while chasing a story."

"You'll have to tell me then whose story one of these days. Does he know about me? I mean the whole story?"

"No one knows apart from me, Barnabas, Frances, and Angelique."

"Megan doesn't, I take it."

"No, she doesn't. It was Angelique's condition for helping you."

He shrugged. "I imagine that she mourned me in a highly theatrical fashion.

"She was hurt."

"Yes. She was. The pain was real. But still, there was a theatrical aspect, too. I bet."

* * *

Redwolf felt that he was facing the gypsy equivalent of Old Munsungan. And why not? What could be said of the shaman could also be said of Ruslan Romano, even to the claim of supernatural powers.

He regretted now his modern ways that made him lose contact with the kind of world these two were so comfortable with.

He wondered about other similarities. Instead of being confined to reservations, they were instead condemned to eternal wanderings in their caravans. But unlike Indians, they cold take off their traditional clothes and blend into the general population without losing their ways.

He gave Ruslan Munsungan's letter. He wondered how could a gypsy read the signs that only an Indian could understand. But then, there was much that escaped him and which Munsungan knew.

"Has he seen the fire?" Ruslan asked.

"Yes. he said that it will consume everything unless we find the hand."

The old man nodded grimly "It is true, we have to find it."

'He will help you as much as it is needed. I will take you to him."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Urien Collins. His name was Urien Collins.. He clung to that knowledge even if he could not make sense of it.

Where was he?"

"Hey, kid!"

Where was he?

"Hey, kid, can you hear me?"

Robert Loomis was there. Urien somehow recognized him.

"What am I doing here? Who are you... you are dead, aren't you?"

"Yes. Dead. I am dead."

"It was an accident. I remember."

"That was what they thought, wasn't it?"

"I had noting to do with it!"

"Dumb kid. I didn't say it was you. You are as dumb as Willie or that bloodsucker."

"I told you, I didn't do it!"

"No, it wasn't you. It was that woman."

"What woman?"

"Are you dumb, son? There was a woman, I tell you. I stole her jewels and she did not like it."

"But..."

"Don't interrupt, kid. After all, you are not saying anything smart. It is this woman. She holds power over fine. There are more like her. And I know that I can destroy her one day if she's not careful. I did not give myself to her, so she cannot claim me. I am only the first, but there will be others. It may be a long wait, but our time will come."

"I don't understand."

"That's then problem with being dead. No one listens anymore. It's no fun being dead. Not a single joint where to buy a drink! I am not sure if this place is supposed to be Heaven or Hell."

"Why am I here? Am I dead?"

"Nope, you ain't dead. You are just visiting. Go tell that no-good son of mine to send his sold man some booze. And tell him how I died. As if he cared."

Robert Loomis vanished. And Urien was being pulled back, unit.. he realized that he was in a bed.

"Well, kid, welcome back." George said to him.

"What...?"

"Yes, the effects should wear off quickly now, if Barnabas was right. All those finger marks have vanished by now."

"What happened?"

"You had a run in with Petofi's hand."

"There was this woman, in the library. The same one who came earlier. She had broken in and was throwing books around. I tried to call the cops and then..."

"Then the hand grabbed you and you passed out."

"Hand? What hand?"

"It is a long story. Barnabas can explain it better."

"How long have I been like this?"

"For about two days. Barnabas said that you'd get well on your own, and when he wakes up \later today he'll be glad to know that he was right."

Urien nodded.

"I had a weird dream."

"You might have. I don't doubt it."

"It was about Loomis. He talked to me, he said that he had been murdered, but that I had not done it."

George nodded without much interest.

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you dreamed. Whether it means anything, I would guess not. Loomis smoked in bed, and people who do that end up burning themselves. You should not blame yourself for it."

* * *

"Have you made the arrangements?" Patterson asked, a bit insolently.

"Yes. Jeff Thompson and his men will be here in a couple of weeks." Derek said.

"Good. I can't wait in Collinsport forever. Collinsport is not such a wonderful place that I can sit here and do nothing but watch the seagulls and be content."

"It is not so bad."

"I've had my fill of it and I don't want any more."

"A few more days will not make a difference."

"I hate this place! I wasted too many years here. And what for? To be kicked out and see them hand my job to that fag. Hey what's the matter with you?''

'You should not be calling Sheriff Brant those names."

"Why not? You think that it isn't true?"

"I don't like to hear him being called names."

"You believe that he is not one of those? He is, believe me."

"Still, it is wrong of you to say it that way."

"Why? You a fag yourself?'

"I have worked for him. He was always decent to me."

"Decent, ha! He probably wanted you in his bed."

"It is not me that he wants."

"Who then, Barnabas Collins? I always thought that he was a weird one, too. But I was not going to antagonize the Collins family by calling their cousin a fairy. But he's one too, all right."

"Patterson, for your sake, don't say any more."

"I wills say what I want."

* * *

They stood face to face, the two formidable old men. The gypsy seemed frailer than Munsungan, but except that,, Redwolf could see how alike the two of them were.

Their greeting was guarded, but not hostile.

"You know what happened to that which was ours."

"I instructed tat it should be returned to you."

"But it was not." the gypsy answered.

"The one holding it said that it had been taken from him and his child attacked. he said that a young woman of your tribe did it."

"I sent no young woman to retrieve it."

"I believe that he told the truth. What he heard and saw he repeated." he paused. "I know now that the woman's name is Zoya."

"Zoya... she came with Anton.. and left after he did."

Munsungan spoke solemnly "It was not Anton that she came back with. You know it. You know the truth. See it as it is, not as you'd have it."

The gypsy stared at Munsungan hard. Munsungan held his ground.

"You know the truth." Munsungan repeated.

The old man wept more, but Munsungan would not relent. Anton had not gone back to his father. He had died and been buried. Part of his body had been used to build Adam. But Adam was not Anton, could never be Anton.

"Anton is gone. He is lost to me." Ruslan admitted "he will never come back."

Munsungan nodded.

"Now that you know the truth, we must seek the hand and stop that young woman from consuming all of us in the flames."

* * *

David's eyes closed. Too early in the day to be so sleepy, he thought.. but he had eaten too much and had been studying late..

Hallie walked the baby, singing to it t make it sleep. And to make David sleep, too. She would fight Zoya today, and since David would not leave the house, she made sure that he'd not interfere nor know of her actions.

Eliot was about to fall asleep. So was David. They would fall asleep together and she would be able to settle her accounts with Zoya.

* * *

Zoya felt the hand throb. Hallie was about to claim her. It was time that she fought back. She laid the hand before her and concentrated on it, channeling its powers.

* * *

Hallie lighted the candles. five of them. She set them around her. Sunshine glittered on her as she knelt down and began her prayer to Ra. They she lifted her hand, flames at her fingertips and hurled a bolt of fire at Zoya.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The bolt coursed, invisible, through space, seeking Zoya to consume her to the glory of Ra.

Munsungan and Ruslan felt its coming, and shivered. It had started then..

On the table, the mummified hand stood upright, ready to receive and hurl the bolt back.

Hallie felt the bolt advance. It would claim Zoya, she believed.

The bolt was hurled back. It coursed back, seeking Hallie.

"The first blows have been exchanged." Munsungan said "and the fire will come unless we find the hand."

* * *

Hallie considered the power that had been needed to send the bolt back, with such precision. Zoya had made herself powerful, indeed.

That made it more imperative that she should be destroyed, and extreme care should be taken in doing so.

She hoped that she did not need to sacrifice David and Eliot in order to do so. Neither David nor Eliot should come to the fire as a victim, but proudly, claiming their birthright. But if Zoya was powerful enough, she might need to.

She was going to need all her salamanders and all the power hidden in the stones that she had taken from Yolanda.

Never before she had sent her salamanders so far away...

She gathered the stones next to her. The sun caught their facets, filling them with power.

* * *

Zoya stared at the hand, now resting again. Was that it? One blow and Hallie admitted defeat?

No, it could not be that. Hallie was not weak. She probably was biding her time, calculating the best line of attack.

She chewed on her fingernails. It would be a long battle. And she wasn't so sure that she could win it.

"Sister." a voice said behind her.

She turned. Yolanda Overton was there. She had seen her before, had heard something of her story.

"Help me, sister, and I'll help you." Yolanda said "I want to be free of her. Let me help you defeat her. Let me have the hand."

Yolanda moved towards the table, trying to reach the hand.

Zoya stopped her by interposing herself.

"You got to trust me." Yolanda insisted. You know what I want. It is the same that you want, isn't it?"

Zoya wondered if she could be telling the truth. Maybe Yolanda wanted to break free of Hallie.

Then she half saw the others, male and female, behind Yolanda, undulating slowly in the flames.

"No!"

She lifted the hand high up in the air and pointed it to Yolanda. Yolanda shook.

"You are wrong!" Yolanda pleaded. "She does not send me! I came on my own. She doesn't know that I am here! Help me, sister. Help me and help yourself."

Zoya kept the hand up until Yolanda vanished, along with he others.

So Hallie feared her enough to try trickery. That was good.

She patted the hand. "You will help me, won't you? You'll defeat her and send her back to wherever she came."

Then she thought of her situation. All she did was sit there, letting Hallie fire at will. She should strike on her own.

She pressed the hand to her breast. "Bring me the power." she asked. "Let the power be mine. Drain her and destroy her."

It surged through her. Hallie's power. It pulsated under her skin. She lifted her right hand and saw the small flames at her fingertips.

* * *

Halllie felt the draining. it was first a feeling of lassitude as she felt sometimes when the sun was away. But this time it was more than that.

It was a draining. She could, if she strained, see the pull away from her, could sense its direction.

She could fight it, but she could not. Why not let Zoya indeed have it? The power of the sun, passing through the flames and into her was endless. Zoya could not control it once it reached her. It would consume her, as the sacrifice she was meant to be.

* * *

Munsungan felt the fire grow. It would grow and grow invisibly. Then it would explode, consuming everything in its path. No escape now, unless the found the hand and turned the fire away.

* * *

More and more power flowed into her. Her skin tightened and her muscles flexed. The flames were at her command or would be soon. And Hallie would suffer for it.

The hand seemed alive. Zoya worried a bit about that. They said that Petofi's spirit was still attached to the hand. Would not this give him power, too?

Petofi was dead. They had killed him in 1898 after reclaiming the hand...

* * *

Munsungan could find the hand, but could not control it. And Ruslan Romano could control it, but could not locate it. They needed each other if they were to stop the approaching fire.

"How could she have done it?" Ruslan mused "She knew what it meant to all of us. She knew how we prized it. She was blind..blind...

Munsungan told him of what he had glimpsed in the fire, and about Laura.

"We have heard of those creatures. The Lords and Ladies of the fire. If Zoya fell prey to one of them..."

"She fell prey and now she wants her freedom."

"She stole the hand to get herself protection. But why couldn't she tell us of it? She does not know how to use it."

"I will lead you to her."

* * *

More and more power. For herself and the hand. She could see how the hand had begun to glow. Had she herself begun to glow?

Zoya wondered for a moment if that might be dangerous. But then remembered how dangerous not fighting Hallie was. She had to risk it. She would accept all this power. She would accept the glow enveloping her until Hallie was left lifeless, unable to hurt her any more.

* * *

Hallie felt the power leave her. And she felt more power come into her from the sun as it filtered through the window. Power came in, power went out, and she was only a conduit.

The power all flowed to Zoya, filling her until she could hold no more, until she burst into flame by herself,, a gigantic flame that would devour everything in its path.

* * *

"It is close" Munsungan said.

"Yes." Ruslan agreed. "I now sense its presence. And it has grown powerful, very powerful." his voice held awe. "I was told by my father that, even dead, Petofi hold some control on his hand, that if care was not taken, then Petofi would bend the hand to his uses..

"And now the power is in it. You think that Petofi might recall the hand?"

"Yes."

"It will not happen that way. When the power is in it, then hand and everything else will be consumed in the flames. It, and Zoya, are in a baited trap. The power is the bait, and the more power they claim, the greater the danger becomes to them. Power is fire, and they have taken fire into themselves."

Redwolf drove them, his teeth gritting. They'd better find that hand quick, or they would never be able to run fast enough to escape.

They stopped at the cottage.

"Is it here?"

"Yes. Here."

They did not bother knocking. Redwolf forced the door open and they came in.

Zoya did not get up when she heard them coming. She was full of power now and they could not stop her.

They saw Zoya as she was, sitting on the floor, glowing red.

"It is too late to save her."

"There might be a way" Ruslan said "I will call upon the hand."

"It has grown too powerful now."

The hand rose in the air.. Zoya did not move. Her lips seemed to form a few words, but they could not be heard.

The hand floated towards them. Redwolf bolted, but Munsungan and Ruslan held their ground.

The hand grabbed Ruslan by the throat and began strangling him. Munsungan grabbed the hand. It burned him but he would not let it go.

"Use your power, Ruslan." he told the other man "It can still obey you."

Ruslan felt the air being cut off from him, killing him, but he also felt Munsungan's voice and strength. He put his hand over the mummified one and pressed on it, trying to control it. Slowly it opened and released him.

Zoya glowed brighter and brighter. Sparks began to fly off her.

"Tell her to return the power." Munsungan said.

She burst into flame. She had one scream, then it was all hidden by the fire covering her.

The fire was there. It would spread and burn everything.

"We have to stop it." Munsungan said "You, I, and that hand. Make it go away."

They concentrated together, holding the still, hot hand. The fire did not advance in their direction. Instead it seemed to grow upwards.

Petofi's face appeared in the flames. "You will pay for this." he hissed at them.

"You failed" Ruslan said. "Go back to where you came from."

The flames pulled back. they grew taller and thinner. Very, very tall, and very, very thing. Then, as if they were all a single arrow, they shot upwards into the sun.

It was gone. There was just a blackened spot where Zoya had been, and nothing else.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Hallie knew that Zoya was dead. Ra had claimed her for her own, and Ra had gathered the power back into Himself.

She had won.

She let the sun shine on her, giving her strength again, then she got up and put up the candles.

"Zoya, come to me."

Zoya papered to her, no longer a living woman, but a salamander, destined to serve her.

"You have been disobedient, Zoya." she said. "you must be punished."

She now had Zoya's heart in her hand and she squeezed it. Zoya screamed as she was once more enveloped in flame.

"You shall know my wrath for a while longer. Go, Zoya."

Zoya disappeared, still screaming.

Hallie put the heart away in the box she now had with her. She put the box away. She put the stones and candles away. then she was free to pick up Eliot, and slowly rouse him and David.

* * *

"Is it over?" Redwolf asked, still shaking.

"Yes. It is over. My granddaughter is dead." Ruslan said. "and the danger is gone. We have the hand again. And there is one more thing that I must do before I leave."

* * *

"So it is over?" Quentin asked Barnabas.

"Yes. I talked with Old Munsungan. Ruslan wants to see you three, but from what Munsungan said, you have nothing to fear. It seems that then woman who came to pick up the hand was not acting for the tribe. She wanted the hand for herself. Her name was Zoya Zalisky and she was in thrall to a phoenix. She sought to use the hand to protect herself, only it did not work and she died."

"A phoenix, like Laura?"

"Yes. I imagine that Laura was by no means the only one. Poor Zoya. She must be a salamander now, just like Priscilla."

"We'll never know the whole story, I think."

"No, we won't"

"Barnabas, I have to ask you a favor. About Adam."

"How is he doing?"

"For what I can see, he seems to have gotten over being Curly Howard or Anton Romano. But still he's got the old conflicts that drove him to seek the hand. He will have to work on them."

"I can refer him to some therapist who are not connected to Julia or myself."

"He will take you up on it. I impressed it on him that he needs professional help. He's chastened enough by the experience, so he will not try any more 'do it yourself' schemes. But what he wants done it for you or me to go to Carolyn and explain to her what happened to him, why he left, and why he stayed away all this time."

"Ask her if she wants to give him another chance?"

"Yes. Somehow I think that she will listen to you better than to me."

* * *

Adam, Quentin, and Sebastian were not sure why Munsungan had called them. Barnabas had reassured them, but they could not help worrying. They had, after all, helped steal the hand from the gypsies.

As they suspected, the gypsy king was there.

"Do not fear." Ruslan said to them. "I know of you and your actions. I know now that I was wrong in what I did to you." he spoke to Adam now. "You are not Anton and I should not have tried to make you into him. I can't blame you for seeking to regain your true name.. As for you." he turned to Quentin and Sebastian "it was only because of your friendship that you became involved in this. You shall fear no revenge from me or my kind. You have lost your true shapes in coming here, and while you may have regained them, it will not last unless I use the hand to free you from them forever."

Quentin looked at Adam and Sebastian. He gulped. Could he trust Ruslan to do as he said?

He decided to gamble. He sat down on the ground, ready to accept what Ruslan had to offer. Sebastian and Adam hesitated, then did as he did.

Ruslan put the hand over each of their foreheads. It was a hot and tingling touch. And reassuring. They felt no fear when they were touched.

"You can go now." Ruslan said. "You are free to live your lives."

"Thank you." Quentin said. "We are grateful to you."

"Thank you for not bearing ill will towards an old man who only wanted his son back." he looked at Adam longingly "you are not Anton. I wished that you were, but my wish cannot make things be what they are not. Some of his body still lives in you, but you are not him. He used it once. You do now. Use it wisely, use your life wisely in memory of him."

Adam felt pity for the old man. But he could not help him. He could not lose his own identity and become Anton.

"I grieve for you." he told Ruslan "and I grieve because I cannot help you."

* * *

Would he find Carolyn nursing a drink? Before she went to Boston, she had been giving herself to Roger's favorite remedy. Had she kept at it?

But she was alert and smiling, with a shine in her eyes that had not been there before.

"That trip to Boston did you good, cousin." he commented.

"There is a whole world out there, Barnabas. Collinsport is not the world. And... and now I can see of how much I have cheated myself off. I will be dividing my time between here and there. There are organizations there that I can join and do much there. And I will stop micromanaging the plant. I will set up guidelines and see that they are enforced, but the day to day operations I will leave to a manager."

"If you want me to keep checking on him."

"No need for it, yet. But there is something that you wanted to tell me first, isn't it?"

"Yes. About Adam."

"Adam?" she said with pain and anger. "Why? Hasn't he done enough harm already?"

"He had lost his memory. Somebody made him believe that he was someone else. He only remembered recently, and his trip back was quite eventful... "

He told Carolyn as much as he knew of Adam's experience.

"Turned into Curly Howard? With Quentin as Moe and Sebastian as Larry?" she laughed. "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"It happened. It was quite a shock to me when I woke up and they were waiting for me at the Old House. I thought I had gone crazy when I saw them."

Carolyn laughed again. "I bet you did... But why did Adam leave me in the first place?"

"He was losing control of himself. He had assaulted Roger once and was afraid that he'd begin abusing Edmund. He tried to solve the problem on his own."

"But why not tell me? We'd have found help."

"He was not very smart, I agree. And he paid for it. He wanted a quick fix and got it. But for all of that, he loves you."

Carolyn shrugged. "I am done with him."

"Are you sure, or just hurt? As confused as he is, he loves you. And he is confused. Being Anton Romano and Curly Howard did not help him any. And he's all bruised up. They all are. They did not just look like the Stooges, they acted like the Stooges too. At least when they were together. So he got slapped around, had his eyes poked, and his nose twisted by Quentin. And also all the accidents they caused.. At this moment Adam is in need of Tender Loving Care."

"And I am supposed to provide it?"

"That is up to you."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"She did this to me, boy" Robert Loomis persisted. "Tell the bloodsucker that. She killed me and will kill again. He may be interested in knowing it."

"But who is she?"

"She is a phoenix. I don't know what that is, but she is one. It has to do with fire. She burns up people because the Sun wants her to do that. And if they are willing, they become her slaves after death. I was not willing, so I am free. And I may destroy her one day. Tell it to the bloodsucker."

"My father..."

"Your father, huh? Is that your father, a faggot bloodsucker? Tell him I was murdered. Tell him she did this to me."

"She did this to me! She did this to me!" Urien shouted, while Barnabas shook him up. "Wake up, Urien. It is only a dream. It is over. Zoya is dead."

Urien opened his eyes. "What...?"

"You had a bad dream. Don't be alarmed. It is to be expected after what you went through."

"It is not her. I keep dreaming of Loomis, Willie's father. He keeps telling me that he was murdered."

Barnabas nodded.

"Why him? I did not even like him."

"He got under your skin, didn't he?"

"The old bastard. He could not spend two minutes without insulting someone. Specially you. And all you did was give him a place to sleep and eat after his own son had kicked him out for being so lousy."

"Life had not been kind to him. He took it on others."

"Yeah, just like the creep who married my mother. Life had not been kind to him. So he took it out on me."

"And you took it out on others."

"Yeah." Urien admitted. "I did. But why do I have to be the one to feel sorry for the nasty old man?"

"Someone has to."

"Yeah, I guess so. Like many other things, someone has to be the one to do it. Still, it gets to me. The old bastard. Why should I care for him at all? He had his chance in life and he blew it."

'He's dead. And you are alive. And you have better things to do with your time than to hate someone who won't respond to your hatred."

"I know. You have told me several times."

"But you are not convinced."

"I would like to get even with the creep that married my mother. Teach him a thing or two."

"You could go to jail for it."

'Yeah, so you told me."

"And it would be a pity. You have a full future ahead of you. You should not throw it away for the sake of revenge."

"Yeah, I know. But why do I keep dreaming of that old drunk?"

"I can't tell you why. I suspect it was because you were a witness to it, and feel bad about what you saw, and that you could not save him... And the effects of the hand, too. If it does not wear off in time, maybe you should talk to Julia about it."

* * *

"Julia, do you think that Audrey Morton is the best therapist for Peter?" Iris asked Julia.

"She ahs a good reputation, and Peter responds well to her... "

"I know but..."

"But she was brought in by Zeb King... Well, that was Jessica who did it. It was the bargain we struck when Zeb got custody. We would not contest it if Peter got proper therapy. Jessica insisted, saying that she was not trained as child therapist, and she found a good one. We were content."

"But then she said that Yolanda was OK, that she should remain with Peter."

"Yolanda got to her. She could get to anyone. She made Ms. Morton see what Yolanda wanted her to see. She could have done the same thing to me. You cannot blame Ms. Morton for it. "

"Yeah, but still I feel uncomfortable with her."

"Would you be interested in therapy for yourself?'

"No, not for me."

"You have gone through a lot. And you still have to deal with your feelings towards your sister."

"What is there to feel about? She tried to kill me, and the sheriff killed her. What do I need a shrink for?"

"You are willing to take Peter to one."

"It is different. Peter needs it. I don't"

* * *

"I am thinking of going public. " George said to Barnabas.

"Now?"

"I got tired of lying. I will not give your name, if you don't want me to. I can say that I have no permannet lover, that I go for one-night-stands. But I am tired of evading the quesition. I want to be able to say it, and put it behind me. And if that means that I cannot be sheriff, then fine. I will now waste more time on the job. I will not end up like Patterson."

Barnabas said nothing. He was thinking. He was not sure that he wanted to make his private life public. And yet, they knew much wrose about him than homosexuality, and had adjusted to it.

And if they amde it public, maybe George would want more... Maybe he would want more..

Maybe they could leave Collinwood, start somwerhe else, and maybe, mabye share much more...

George looked at him. "You are thinking about our last comverastion, right? Whetehr ir is right to even ask me to join you in your life?"

"Yes."

'Yuo know my answer. Convinve me that you are not going to get killed before the end of the millenium and I will consider it. Convince me that you had taken off those damn targets at your chest and back."

* * *

Will the ghost of Robert Loomis be able to warn them about Hallie? What is the meaning of the scenes that Peter keeps seeing of the dancers? Will Patterson and Derek find the sunken treasure? Will Adam and Carolyn get together at last?

Stay tuned.


End file.
